80 years of BBC TV

On Nov 2 1936 the BBC started TV broadcasts from Alexandra Palace. There were 2 systems the Baird and the Marconi-EMI and both systems were tried, the Marconi system winning. That decision was made in March 1937. On May 12th 1937 the first British outside broadcast was made, the Coronation of George VI. You could buy these sets at launch:
Ekco-Scophony
Marconiphone
HMV
Cossor
GEC
Pye
Ferranti
Baird
Murphy
RGD
Ultra
By September 1938 KB and Philips sets were also available
These were household names back until the 1980’s, when Sony, Hitachi (GEC) Toshiba(Rank), Panasonic, Sanyo(Philips/Pye) and Tatung (Decca) took over. The bracketed make is the factory that the Japanese took over. Pedants will point out that Tatung was from Taiwan. Funny how the Japanese made a success of TV production in the UK when the Brits could not.
A BBC programme covers the start up:http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2016/44/televisions-opening-night
The Baird work was not wasted as the flying spot Telecine became a useful piece of kit.
The 1953 coronation of the present Queen provided a major boost for TV. A lot of the population finding a place to view a TV set. My father in law built a DIY one for the occasion.